Our Bay Area Trip.

Sorry it took me so long to post about our recent trip. Finally, here it is. Beware, it may be long, and there are lots of pictures.

April 8th: Woke up at 4:30am to finish getting everything ready and waited for my sister and her Suburban to arrive. Five o'clock we load the truck, arrange car seats and Colby groggily brings our sleeping kids to the car. We are off to begin the long, long, drive to our hotel in Oakland, CA. The weather throughout the entire state of Nevada was horrendous. Heavy winds and snowstorm made us take our time. Lots of movies, sleepy cranky kids and fast food on the way. I will have to say that my favorite part of that drive was Lake Tahoe area. It was gorgeous! I can't even remember what time it was when we finally arrived in Oakland, it was probably after 11pm, but both drivers were exhausted and a bit delirious. We did stop in Roseville on the way to kill rush hour time through Sacramento and visit an old friend of my sister's. The kids were in heaven playing with the friend's young'uns and their toys.

April 9th: We found a Carrow's near the Oakland airport that were willing to seat and feed our party of 8. We ended up eating breakfast there 4 of 6 days of our trip. Next it was off to find the Bay Bridge

and cross over to San Francisco, so we could start sight-seeing throughout city. The kids and I thought it was great driving through a tunnel in an island. We ended up at the Golden Gate Bridge after driving around San Fran for awhile. Next we had lunch at In-N-Out Burger, and walked Fisherman's Wharf. We ended up at Pier 39 watching the Sea Lions and riding the double-decker carousel. The kids had a good time riding up an escalator over and over, you would think they'd never been on one before. After a few more photo opts around Pier 39, we walked back to Ghiradelli square where we had parked, hitting Cold Stone Creamery for a treat on the way. It was a long first day!

April 10th: The weather was much more pleasant today. Although, still a bit breezy, but that's what you get next to the ocean. We decided to take the kids to the Exploratorium, I think we spent about 4 hours there. We didn't even get half way done walking through the ginormous building. There was just way too much to do. We all had such a blast trying out the different science/physics experiments. Outside, we had a snack picnic in front of the Palace of the Fine Arts. What a great view! They kids had fun having stroller races taking turns who sat in the 2 strollers. We drove around town enjoying the architecture, viewing Coit Tower, and finding the crooked part of Lombard Street. Then we stood in line to ride a Cable Car. The driver took such a fancy to Gabe, he talked to him the whole ride from Ghiradelli Square to downtown, then had him ring the bell like crazy when everyone was off the car. On the walk back to the car, we watched a guy swallowing swords and eating fire.

April 11th: We usually ate a little late for Breakfast each morning, so Tristan was always starving, and he definitely let us know it. Here he is scarfing down his daily dose of pancakes. We got in our Sunday best to attend the Temple Sealing of our cousins. The kids were watched by some sweet Young Women of our cousins ward at a huge stake center on the Temple grounds. Tyra and I attended the sealing with our mom and dad, and aunts and uncles. It was long, but very special to see this family of 5 sealed for time and all eternity. (Uncle Garth, his son Chase and daughter-in-law Jill Burt. Their children: Zenoch, Quinn and Lily Burt)

They had a long journey to get here. We hung out on the grounds for awhile chatting, (Tyra, Dad and Me)

(Tyra, Mom and Me)

taking pictures and watching all the fun wedding parties filter throughout the grounds. The temple had a staircase outside that you could go up and enjoy the crazy view of the bay area. Gorgeous! Of course the temple grounds were just as amazing. By the way, the drive from the freeway to the temple was terrifying. Someone had told our group to go strait there and not stop to get out of the car until we were on the dedicated grounds of the temple.

(Tristan zoning out, on the way to food, listening to my iPod.)

We cara-vanned over to a Home Town Buffet for more food and run with our large group. Then we separated from the others and headed back to our hotel for some swimming. The wind was blowing and most of the pool area was in the shade, so it WAS freezing! But the kids still swam between bouts of running to the sun to get warm.

April 12th: This was our last full day of fun, tomorrow we would make the long drive back home. Another breakfast at Carrow's, then back to the hotel for an impromptu Easter Hunt, no eggs involved. We then rode the B.A.R.T. (Bay Area Rapid Transit - train) from Oakland to San Francisco. This was Gabe's favorite part of the trip, but he fell asleep before we were done. It goes under the bay, I was amazed at how fast we were moving. We walked around a park with some fun sculptures when we got there. Then walked the Embarcadero again, this time from the opposite side, going from The Ferry Building to Pier 39. We got a great view of the Trans-American Building. For those who have seen Monsters vs. Aliens, it was set in San Francisco area, and in the movie you see several of the buildings and bridges that we got to see. We grabbed some cookies and lunch at Pier 39 before walking back to the Ferry building and the BART. I had to have a sourdough bowl, although I am not a clam chowder fan, so I got it filled with chili instead. Pigeons were feasting on a bowl as well, I thought this was funny. A guy had an iguana on a leash, the kids loved walking over to pet it. Finally cranky Tristan is asleep. Gabe took this picture of me on the way back to Oakland.

April 13th: Tyra and I packed the car the night before so that we could just wake up at 5am and leave. I slept through my alarm, so she had to wake me up, with her kids already waiting for us in the car, sorry Tyra. It had been a long restless night with Tristan tossing and turning in my bed and falling off the bed completely, once again. We finally got out of there around 5:30am. On our drive home, my parents called to say that while they were eating at Carrow's that morning, their rental car had been broken into, and my Uncle Dennis's laptop was stolen. The police refused to come to them, because 4 officers had been killed in that area in the last month. So they drove to the police station to file the report. Scary! We will never stay there again. We were definitely watched over during our vacation. Many prayers were said by us, and now we know why the rooms were so affordable in the area. Here is Tristan after a long screaming bout, he finally fell asleep with Taryn's stuffed sea lion in his hand. We got home at about 11 or 11:30 at night. Exhausted and cranky, we were glad to see Colby again.

April Fools!

So yesterday...I looked out the window and what did I see? April has sure fooled us all here in Utah; making us think it's a spring month, but deciding to torture us with more winter. Argh! Is the end of winter ever in sight? Will spring begin at all before summer gets here? Alas, I will just resort to checking weather.com every day.

Blogaversary!

I have been blogging for a WHOLE year today. Sorry I haven't posted much lately. There isn't much to say other than the normal: go to the gym, laundry, dishes, clean up toys, prepare meals, pickup carpool, bedtime, REPEAT. I am preparing to leave town tomorrow, and boy, I procrastinated a lot of stuff. So, I am tidying the house, packing and trying to squeeze in a doctor's appointment for Braxton, haircuts for Brax and Gabe, and Braxton's swimming lessons, along with showers for all the kids and get us all in bed on time to leave by 5am tomorrow morning. Wish me luck, I know I'll need it.

San Francisco Here I Come!

Okay, so I hate unpredictable weather. Two weeks ago I was outside enjoying the warmness, and today there is a foot of snow outside. Aargghh! However, there is a light at the end of the week. My sister called me about two weeks ago and asked if I would drive to CA with her and her kids. Both her husband and Colby need to stay home for work, so having two people driving would really help her out. After consulting with Colby, we decided that I could manage to the kids and myself on vacation with her. So, my sister Tyra, 3 of her 4 kids, myself and my 3 boys are all piling in a Suburban and making our way to Oakland for a family event. Then heading over to San Fran for some sightseeing and good times. We will be gone for 6 days with 6 kids and no hubbies. Wish us luck! Luckily she is the great bargain finder in the fam, and I have done long 12 hour drives plenty of times with my kids, so I have a general idea as to what to pack that makes it bearable for all. The two of us together is a great organized combo. It's the part of staying in a hotel room, and trying to get my boys to sleep with no help from Colby that worries me. Hopefully we can exhaust them every day and they will hit the sack with no arguments. Let me tell you right now how grateful I am for technology: laptop, ipod, dvd player and movies, Nintendo DS, are all items on my packing list to keep the little ones entertained and minimize the quarreling. A nice aspect is that her kids seem like siblings to my kids, a bad thing can be that her and my kids my start fighting like siblings. Oh well, with the youngest of hers that is going being my oldest age, it will help to have the other two older kids in the car to help with Gabe and Tristan. I know that area is usually cool in temperature, but I am hoping that it is at least warmer than Utah is right now.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

In honor of the holiday, I took a leaf from my mom's book. I made green oatmeal for my boys' this morning. I rarely cook a hot breakfast, but I was already up and at it from the gym, so I figured why not make it a fun day. A little green food coloring in the pot right before it's done and tada! St. Patrick's Day oatmeal. They were extremely hesitant to take the first bite. Braxton claimed it looked like oobleck. Whatever that is. But, after some encouragement, he announced that it tasted good. Thanks mom, for introducing me to fun holiday traditions as a kid. I remember having pink "Wheat Hearts" (like Cream of Wheat for those who don't know) as a kid for Valentine's Day. Here are my boys' in there St. Patty's Day shirts from Old Navy. And, I am proud to announce that I put the trampoline up all by myself today.

Finally...it's feeling like spring!

It has finally warmed up this week, and weather looks to be that way for a week or more. The boys' had a good time playing with our neighbor and friend Jacob on Saturday.

(Poor Jacob looks squished on his on Tricycle.)

Then later that evening, Colby's parents let us bring the grand kids' power wheels over to our house to play with. Their oldest grandson is now too big for it, so now my boys' don't have to wait to go over there to ride it. We had a lot of fun using it yesterday after the battery had been charged. We had our friend Ben and his daughter Riley over to go out to lunch with and play at the Treehouse Museum with Tristan while Gabe and Braxton were in school. After we picked Gabe up from preschool, he and Riley took turns driving. Then they washed the truck while waiting for Braxton to come home from school to drive them fast.

Xavier's baptism.

Colby's nephew Xavier just turned eight, and asked Colby if he would baptize him. Colby agreed and Braxton was excited to see what he has to look forward to. It was a fun day, for some. Tristan and Gabe gave me a run for my money, so afterwards, I dropped them at my moms' to enjoy a dinner at Bella's with Colby's family and Braxton.

Xavier and Colby before the baptism.

Xavier and his dad, Tyson afterwards.

Colby's family that attended, minus Braxton - he was being camera shy.

Spur of the moment Family Night.

Friday nights I love to go out to eat. I have been cooped in the house most of the week with the kids, and I usually beg Colby to go out. We wanted to get something to eat before the kids hit the sack last week. We tried our normal group of people that we hang with on the weekends, but everyone was busy at dinnertime. We were ready to just go by ourselves, when Colby suggested we call the Miles' family. They were already eating pancakes for dinner, but wanted to come along with us anyway. We eat really late, unfortunately usually around 7pm, so we headed to Costa Vida (my new fav' place to eat in the last year). For those that don't know, it is located in downtown Ogden, and next to a indoor surfing place. You can sit and eat while you watch people either excel at surfing or biff it. It's quite entertaining for adults and kids alike. We enjoyed our dinner, then decided to treat our kids to a game of bowling (something they beg us to do all the time). Although Heather and I spent most of the night entertaining our restless 18 month olds, the older kids had a blast with their dads.

Tristan and Jed playing some skeeball (spelling?).

Braxton surprising Kelly with a quick kiss.

Gabe and Bryce waiting for their bowling ball.

Warm day...

We had a warm Monday and Tuesday last week. The kids were excited to play outside. They had some fun on scooters and playing with Gabe's wagon. We had a nice, warm Sunday (enough to unload some outside toys from the shed), and now we have snow AGAIN! I'll tell you what....I'm done with this weather. I am already planning our next vacation and it will be someplace warm. Here's Tristan caught doing something creative while I was washing dishes last week. And Gabe at a preschool field trip, riding bikes/scooters.